Intimacy with yourself

You know, its only been in the past few years that I have discovered what it means to have a relationship with yourself. It sounds on the surface like a bunch of goobledegook or psycho-jargon but its really not.  Its the foundation from which others relate to you. It sounds strange but you set the rules for how others treat you by the way you treat yourself. If you are on time, others know that they must value your time. If you are respectful, they show you respect. If you say no to certain behaviors or things, they understand what you value in yourself. If you allow other's treatment of you to make you angry, they begin to understand the ways that you are controlled.

It is that value you put in yourself that allows others to see what they should also value in you.

Perhaps one of the most important ways I am learning to relate to myself in is showing myself grace. Not excuses. Not I'm never wrong. Not denial. But a true grace that looks honestly in the face of all my short comings, all my flaws and all my fears and nutures and accepts me anyway. As a work in progress. That embraces my mistakes as places-- landmarks from which I can measure my growth.